Tony Abbott hits out as his Green Army gets scrapped

FORMER PM Tony Abbott has hit out at the Coalition Government after news emerged that his Green Army, an initiative aimed at getting unemployed people to work on conservation projects, was on the chopping block.

The program was established shortly after Mr Abbott rose to power in 2013 and aimed to deploy up to 15,000 people aged between 17 and 24.

This afternoon Mr Abbott took to Facebook to express his disappointment.

"I'm dismayed by reports the Green Army may be scrapped," Mr Abbott posted.

"Not only has it been good for grass roots conservation but it got unemployed people working too.

"It's a bad principle to axe your own policy for the Greens policy because it means that their priorities are more important than ours.